To date, gemstones have been employed almost exclusively for purely aesthetic purposes in accessories and on textiles, but hardly had any functional effect. In the field of wearable electronics (so-called “wearable technologies”), a market with enormous growth opportunities, they are lacking, because this field is associated by the users with functionality rather than decoration. The use of functional gemstones is generally conceivable wherever functionality and aesthetics are required, but especially in this case, the function control of electronic devices is a challenge. Touch-sensitive electronic sensors, such as those known from touchscreens, enable a comfortable function control of electronic devices using a finger or stylus. The input interface of an electronic device is the device portion by the touch of which a function is triggered. Gemstones serving as an input interface of devices and enabling an exact touch-sensitive handling of the devices are lacking.
The patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 7,932,893 describes a watch with touch-sensitive sensors serving to control a computer cursor.
The patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 6,868,046 discloses a watch with capacitive keys. The capacitive keys are operated manually using a finger and serve to control the hands of the watch.
WO2010/075599A1 describes a body made of a transparent material coated with a transparent electrically conductive layer. With the transparent electrically conductive layer, a contact to an inorganic semiconductor chip, an LED, is created.
US2006/0280040A1 discloses a watch in which a transparent electrically conductive layer is coated on the inside of the watch glass, and enamel is coated on the edge. This structure is supposed to avoid shortcuts.
EP 1 544 178 A1 describes a transparent element with transparent electrodes and a multi-layer structure. One of the layers is a transparent electrically conductive layer. The layers are coated on top of one another and also serve as an antireflection coating.
FR 1221561 discloses a decorative element that can be caused to light up by a phosphorescent material.
To date, there has been a lack of any technical solution of adapting gemstones for being suitable as a function control of electronic devices. It is the object of the present invention to provide a decorative element that enables function control of electronic devices.